Exclusive: BMW i3 Neue Klasse spotted testing

The i3 Neue Klasse is BMW's most important upcoming model, the company investing huge resources into its new platform and retro-futuristic looks. Today, we spotted the model that is supposed to become the new 3-Series, the most popular model in the company's portfolio. A camoflaged version was undergoing testing and we managed to snap a bunch of photos for you to feast your eyes on.

In recent years, the norm has become for BMW to have the same design for both ICE and fully-electric models to minimize production costs. And while the Neue Klasse design language will be carried over to some ICE models, the platform is all electric and the most powerful version is rumored to be a fully-electric M3 for the first time ever.

The camo masks the vehicle's body lines to some extent, but we still get an idea of its proportions. Also the very fact that we see prototypes in motion on public streets can mean only one thing - the i3 Neue Klasse is almost production-ready.

Looking at it from the front, the i3 Neue Klasse seems to be almost identical to the concept. BMW’s trademark "kidney grille" now also integrates the headlights, making them appear as one huge unit, spreading almost the entire front end of the i3 Neue Klasse. Whether there will be an element to separate the two remains a mystery due to the camo, but it seems unlikely.

One thing that stands out in the design is the Hofmeister Kink, which BMW models are so famous for and makes them so distinguishable even from the side. It wasn’t present on the concept and the vehicle looked awkward. However, this test-mule seems to have it, making it much easier to identify as a part of the BMW family.

The taillights also don't seem to be as obnoxiously big as the initial design. BMW moved to a more traditional narrow shape, similar to the ones on the current 5-Series.

The slanted back after the passenger doors seems to be less steep and once again add to a more typical BMW silhouette. As is to be expected the very radical concept was toned down a bit for the production ready model and that's not a bad thing.

So far, there are no details on the powertrains and performance numbers. BMW promises that the Neue Klasse will bring significant improvements there. If we take the current BMW i4 eDrive40 as a reference point, that would suggest we are l looking at over 600 km of range on a single charge and 10% to 80% charging times of about 20 minutes.